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Sorry, Carla, it's that old joke. Two Jews and two Brits meet at the
ticket window of the commuter train each morning. One day the Brits notice
that the Jews buy only one ticket. "Just watch us," the Jews reply when
asked. The Brits watch as the two of them squeeze into one bathroom stall.
When the conductor comes by to collect tickets, he knocks on the door, they
slide one ticket underneath; the conductor punches it and passes it back.
So that's how it's done! The next day the Brits buy only one ticket while
the Jews buy none at all. The Brits go into their stall, there's a knock on
the door, they slip the ticket out but it doesn't come back. The Jews, who
did the knocking, take their free ticket and slip into the next stall;
moments later, the ticketless Brits are evicted by an angry conductor.

That's what it must have felt like for Carla Martin to wake up yesterday
morning. Suddenly her picture is on the front page of the New York Times,
looking frazzled and a tad disheveled. The Times explains to all and sundry
that this "obscure" functionary at the Transportation Security
Administration has shredded the Justice Department's case against Zacarias
Mousaoui by coaching government witnesses — slipping them advance e-mails of
what to expect.

If it's not bad enough to get blamed for doing what "everybody does" and
gets away with, she must endure the indignity of being labeled obscure. If
I picked up a paper that read "Obscure columnist Jay Homnick has been named
the central figure in a blockbuster investigation concerning white slavery,
killing for hire, heroin smuggling and unpaid parking tickets", my response
would be predictable: "Obscure? Whaddaya mean obscure?" Now, it's true
that it is common practice and that the other guys never seem to get caught.
But it's still wrong and unfair and, for the Bush administration,
supremely obtuse.

This is hardly the first instance of such thickskulled behavior on the part
of the current crop of Beltway Republicans. Scooter Libby's putative
leaking to reporters was definitely typical behavior in Washington, and most
of Tom Delay's interaction with lobbyists sounds no different than
business-as-usual for old Washington hands. Still, Republicans have to know
that they cannot do those things, even if Democrats can. And, frankly,
since those behaviors are wrong, and they are bad government, it's fine by
me that they get flooded by the spotlight and spotted by the floodlight.
But why can Democrats do this stuff with impunity?

The answer is that American politics and media must follow the story line.
This is a sort of fault line that defines the boundaries of the tectonic
plates that merge uneasily to form the foundation of our governance. It
goes like this. Democrats fight for freedom, and the press must watch them
lest they overreach into licentiousness. Republicans stand for order, and
the press vigilantly scans their practices for the potential of creeping
authoritarianism or, you should excuse the expression, fascism..

Nowhere was this clearer than in the Bill Clinton story. He hired private
detectives to intimidate women, but the story did not have traction.
Democrats don't do that. He sexually harassed Paula Jones and then
defrauded her of her day in court, but the people were not offended.
Democrats don't do that. He had the IRS go after his political opponents,
the Secret Service interrogate a priest who told him that God would punish
him for abortion, the ATF burn down a building full of children and the INS
deport a little Cuban kid at the point of submachine guns. No problem any
of this. But when he started having irresponsible affairs with interns and
pardoning people as a favor to his drug-dealer brother, the nation got it.
That's Democrat excess. Too free with the freedom.

By contrast, Republicans will consistently be condemned when they step over
the line on the authoritarian side. Too orderly with the order. No one
wants this country to become a police state with warrantless searches,
tapped phones, prison sentences without habeas corpus and kangaroo courts
delivering predetermined verdicts. And no one is afraid (although perhaps
they should be) that the Democrats will create such a society. As such,
sensitive Republicans will be hyper-aware of the high level of scrutiny
attached to this type of abuse.

It would be nice to have a world of perfect balance. But in the meantime
we have to make do with what we have. When the Democrats are in power, we
get a chance to go after some of the loose morals in Washington. When
Republicans are in, we get to look for excessive force or lack of due
process. As for Carla Martin, former stewardess for World Airlines, we
realize that your "Out" tray is full, but please keep it in an upright and
locked position.

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JWR contributor Jay D. Homnick is the author of many books and essays on Jewish political and religious affairs. Comment by clicking here.